Pakistan's cabinet greenlights Imran Khan's jail trial in cipher case

Pakistan’s Cabinet on Thursday approved the jail trial of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the cipher case, following a special court decision to hold proceedings within the prison due to security concerns.

The Ministry of Law and Justice submitted the jail trial report in accordance with the court order, which was subsequently endorsed by the Cabinet.

Imran Khan has been detained in Adiala jail Rawalpindi since September 26. The in-prison trial was underway until last week when the Islamabad High Court, citing procedural issues, ruled against it, deeming the proceedings conducted so far as compromised.

After the Islamabad High Court ruling, Special Court judge Abual Hasnat Zulqernain heard the cipher case on Tuesday at the Federal Judicial Complex in Islamabad. Mr Khan was not presented by authorities due to security reasons despite the fact that the judge last week had asked to present Mr Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is also accused in the cipher case.

“It has been informed that the PTI chairman faces security risks of a serious scale,” according to a report presented in the court by authorities.

After hearing the case, the special court announced its order, approving the jail trial in an open court format at the next hearing. Later, the hearing was adjourned till December 1 (Friday).

The cipher case was launched on August 15 and Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi were indicted on October 23.

Mr Khan was arrested after a case was filed against him for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable – called the cipher – sent by the country’s embassy in Washington in March last year.

Earlier, the Cabinet on Tuesday also approved conducting the jail trial of Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption cases.

With inputs from PTI